Link to post

Share on other sites

I've been thinking about getting one for a while based on my addiction to smokers and sous vide. But I can't seem to justify it. I can't think of anything that I would use it for.

The only thing I use my slow cooker for is to re-heat chili when I make it on the smoker.

Are there particular things that Tonya makes that you think, "yes, this makes the instant pot worth it"?

That's a question kind of like "do I need a Kamado when I can cook all this stuff on a $100 Weber kettle?" If you haven't experienced the time savings on a lot of different cooks with a pressure cooker then don't waste your money on one. If you don't think you would use it for anything other than as a slow cooker, you can get a nice crock pot for $30. I'm not trying to sell anyone an Instant Pot and I can't tell you anything about it first hand because I have never used it. My girlfriend loves it and uses it so much that she want's a second one.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

That's a question kind of like "do I need a Kamado when I can cook all this stuff on a $100 Weber kettle?" If you haven't experienced the time savings on a lot of different cooks with a pressure cooker then don't waste your money on one. If you don't think you would use it for anything other than as a slow cooker, you can get a nice crock pot for $30. I'm not trying to sell anyone an Instant Pot and I can't tell you anything about it first hand because I have never used it. My girlfriend loves it and uses it so much that she want's a second one.

You're looking at my question backwards....I want one. I just can't seem to figure out WHY I want one.

Every sous vide / smoker I've purchased had a specific thing in mind that I wanted to cook. I'm struggling to find that excuse on the pressure cooker!

It has a yogurt setting, we turn a gallon of milk in to perfect yogurt using it.

Makes easy/perfect/bulk hard boiled eggs

butter chicken

PERFECT crab legs in 2 minutes

My wife makes all kinds of dinners in freezer bags, she will pull one out, dump it in and a short time later dinner - hands off while it cooks.

I want to can peppers and cucumbers with it, I'm also looking forward to making cottage cheese and fresca in it. We have also done various slow cooker recipes in it.

The major benefit for us was that it replaced the slow cooker and presented a whole new set of capabilities for us in the kitchen. When you cook with pressure things go real fast and once you start it you don't have to monitor it, it's automatic.

I want to make a few clarifying stements though....

When someone tells you it only took 5 minutes in the IP that doesn't count the 10-15 minutes it takes to get to pressure.

The folks in the Instant Pot community are a bit crazy - meaning their goal is to do EVERYTHING in their IP. You shouldn't in my opinion bake bread in one but apparently you can.

It's super at pumping out roasts in very short order (I do mine on the kamado)

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

One other discovery. All slow cookers used to be cook at a bona fide high/low temp. Due to litigation in the industry, high or low means how long it will take to get to 210 degrees(an industry standard it seems)-not cook at a low/high temp. It's only about a 2 hr. difference. They say people were under cooking on low and getting sick.

How do I know this? I was out sick last year and did some major research as I was in disbelief. Ruined some cooks too.

Many older recipes don't account for that and one ends up overcooking on low fairly quickly. I.e. the recipe says low for 8 hrs. but the newer slow cookers don't really do that unless you manually intervene.

So if you have an older crock pot 8 -10 years old or more (I'm not sure of the exact date) you may not have this issue.

My Instant Pot has a slow cook feature. You can choose your temp and it remains at that temp as long as you choose.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

My wife loves her slow cooker and still wont let me convince her to go to a modern pressure cooker of some sort. Looks like we can't get the IP in Australia, but we do have similar products. Maybe I need to drop the crock from her slow cooker, although it is a bit cold sleeping outside at the moment.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Ironically enough I drank the instant pot koolaid this past weekend. I got the Ultra for something like $103 total including tax after I used a Kohl’s 30% off plus a $10 off plus a free shipping. Won’t get here until Friday, but looking forward to it. Have an older electric pressure cooker we use occasionally. It can be finicky about holding pressure... I think I’ll have fun with the instant pot, but it’s probably going to live at work. The husband didn’t seem impressed. I’m tried ordering it during football so he wouldn’t notice. It didn’t work.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

My wife makes all kinds of dinners in freezer bags, she will pull one out, dump it in and a short time later dinner - hands off while it cooks.

Can you give me examples of this? This is what I envisioned using my sous vide machine but it just seemed a little unsafe food safety wise. I'm always interesting in learning about food related things, you never know what will pop out at you. (That's how I found out about kamados, after all)

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

My wife just bought one last week and we have only used it once. We decided to try and make some shredded pork for tacos. I bought a 4 lb pack of "country style ribs" which is really a Boston Butt cut into strips. I used a recipe that was in the included recipe book for a 4 lb. pork roast. I just seasoned the ribs with some salt, McCormick's Pork Rub and Chili Powder, browned them in some vegetable oil using the instant pot, added 1/2 cup water and pressure cooked them for 90 minutes and then let the cooker naturally release the pressure for 20 minutes. Pork came out perfectly and shredded itself basically. Made outstanding tacos and since I have used leftovers to make a couple "roasted pork" sandwiches, grilled on sourdough bread. Next cook will be country style steak.